


kiss me sweetly into the New Year

by AlderaanianPrincess (darthnoire), darthnoire



Series: reylo oneshots [1]
Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Childhood Friends, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Implied Sexual Content, Jealousy, Kissing at Midnight, Mention of alcohol, New Year's Kiss, Poe secretly ships it, Rose and Finn most definitely ship it, Rose likes to play matchmaker and gets Finn involved too
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-11
Updated: 2021-01-11
Packaged: 2021-03-16 05:34:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28701504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darthnoire/pseuds/AlderaanianPrincess, https://archiveofourown.org/users/darthnoire/pseuds/darthnoire
Summary: No matter that the answers to the questions that had flitted across her mind for years were most definitely a resounding yes. His lips were as soft and plump as she had always thought they would be. And yes, he most definitely tasted of cinnamon with just a tang of caramel. Just as she had known he would. And yet the curve of his eyebrows and the thin line of his lips screamed no.
Relationships: Poe Dameron/Finn, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Series: reylo oneshots [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2151402
Comments: 8
Kudos: 50





	kiss me sweetly into the New Year

**Author's Note:**

> Hey,
> 
> So this is the first Reylo thing I post. I wrote it on New Years' Eve and I just left it in my drafts. But today I decided to throw caution to the wind and finally share it. It's not much, but I hope you enjoy it.
> 
> find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/darthnoire)

_~ Present ~_

She was sure that moment was going to stay with her for the rest of her life, but not because she finally got the answer to the two questions that had tormented her for as long as she could remember and definitely not because everyone else was happily cheering the beginning of the New Year. No. Definitely not that. Far from it, in fact.

Her surroundings and those answers were just a vague hum, for in that moment she was focused on watching the expression of shock marring the handsome features of his face. The expression that quite possibly caused her heart to break in two on the spot. 

Her heart was breaking. That was it. She was certain there was no other explanation for the crushing and constricting feeling in her chest.

No matter that the answers to the questions that had flitted across her mind for years were most definitely a resounding _yes._ His lips were as soft and plump as she had always thought they would be. And yes, he most definitely tasted of cinnamon with just a tang of caramel. Just as she had known he would. And yet the curve of his eyebrows and the thin line of his lips screamed _no_.

And oh she was possibly the unluckiest creature in the Universe, to have her taste what she so desperately wanted only to have it ripped right from her hands.

It was like a punch to the gut, and deep down, despite her still lingering shock and raging emotions, she managed to find the strength to half-heartedly, mentally curse Rose and Finn for ever convincing her to do this. 

Eventually she managed to will her body to move, turning hastily on her heels, leaving him and everyone who had witnessed her embarrassing herself.

She should’ve known that coming to Poe’s party was a mistake; his parties had a long history of not ending well for her. Yet, Rey always found herself being dragged along — much against her will — either by Finn, Rose, or even Poe himself. The three of them always knowing exactly how to break her with their big round eyes and soft pretty words.

She had finally learned the hard way, that in this case she was the one who should’ve said _no_.

  
  


_~ 2 hours earlier ~_

  
  


Rey nursed the drink in her hand, while her gaze drifted across the flurry of bodies in the apartment. It was a poor attempt at convincing herself — as much as everyone else — that her gaze wasn’t locked on one person and one person alone.

Her eyes did another lap across the room, only to settle on the two forms huddled in the corner. 

She knew she was scowling, which was probably the reason why the second person who had tried to approach her that night had quickly turned on their heel as soon as they noticed the way her jaw ticked and her eyes squinted. They muttered something about getting another drink and left her sulking by herself next to the kitchen counter.

At first she had tried to drown her sully mood in chips and slices of pizza, but even food hadn’t managed to comfort her. That was a first, which in itself, spoke volumes of the situation. Not that she had any desire to acknowledge it. 

She had reached for the next best thing, grabbing the strongest bottle of spirit in the house and pouring herself a _very_ generous glass, which earned her a whistle from Poe. She had merely rolled her eyes at him and downed the whole thing in one go as she stared him down. 

Poe shot her a wink and a pleased grin, happy she had finally decided to have some fun, little did he know that was far from the truth. 

Fun was something near the bottom of her list of priorities at that moment. The first being controlling the simmering rage she felt bubbling inside of her whenever Bazine, with her long manicured nails, traced a hand down the front of Ben’s perfectly pressed white shirt.

She had no claim on Ben, she knew, and perhaps that knowledge made the situation so much worse.

She bit down the inside of her cheek when, instead of removing her hands from him, Ben leaned further into her touch. She bit so hard she was sure she had drawn blood, but the anger that boiled inside of her prevented her from tasting the iron in her mouth.

Rey wasn’t acting like herself. She wasn’t the jealous type. She also wasn’t the type to hate on another woman just because she’d caught a man’s attention. So, she grabbed another drink and downed it once more, hoping it would clear away those feelings and thoughts.

The two of them had arrived at the party together, and she was still trying to comprehend how they had managed to end up on opposite sides of the room. Ben and Rey were inseparable. Had been from the moment they met each other. 

(Or so she thought.)

Rey had known Ben since primary school. 

She had walked into the new classroom, unsure and scared, expecting all the kids to laugh at her ratty jumper and her knee scuffed jeans that were too long for her —as they had done at all the other schools she had attended— but their attention seemed to have already been on someone else. 

She vaguely remembered seeing a head of raven hair peeking out from the middle of a circle. 

Young Rey had moved quietly into a seat at the back of the class, glad that for once she wasn’t the centre of attention and pitying looks. She had chosen a desk far from the black board at the front of the room, it would keep her hidden from prying eyes.

She started taking out the new school materials her new foster mother, Maz, had gotten her. It was the first time someone had actually bothered with those, and she couldn’t help the smile that bloomed on her face at such a trivial thing. A trivial thing that tasted so much like the promise of what she had hoped for so long —a home. A home that would keep her, and perhaps even love her, and wouldn’t send her away at the first opportunity.

“Give it back!” A shout managed to break her out of her reverie. It had come from the now not-so-friendly circle.

“Or what? You’ll tell your mother?”

“Just give it back. My father gave me that book.”

“Your father, the famous F1 driver?” Another voice enquired with a cruel bite to it.

“Yes!”

“You’re a liar and a coward. If you want your book you’ll have to get it from me.”

Kids could be cruel, Rey knew that better than anyone else. And she knew right then they were being just that, and the desperation she could hear in the voice of the raven-haired kid proved it. His desperation alone made her move before she even thought it through.

“Give it back,” she said as she pushed through the crowd.

The element of surprise worked in her favour as she managed to reach the black-haired boy. There were tears of frustration staining his cheeks.

“Ben needs a girl to defend him!” she heard someone sing obnoxiously behind her. It only made her angrier.

She ignored it in favour of lifting her chin to the threat in front of her, so she could stare at the boy, who was much taller than her.

“If you can take the book from me, you can have it.”

“And you leave Ben alone?” She repeated the name she had heard earlier.

The bully chuckled, “Sure, and I’ll leave Ben alone.”

She didn’t hesitate. She kicked with as much force as she could muster, he let out a grunt as tears pricked his eyes. The kid doubled over in pain, dropping the book in front of Rey as he fell to the ground, clutching his shin. Rey picked up the book with a satisfied smile on her face at the sight of her small victory.

The bully stared up at Rey with a mixture of fear and anger before limping away back to his seat, the crowd either following him or dissipating back to their own.

Rey turned to Ben and handed him the book, “Here.”

“Thank you,” he murmured, staring at her with wide eyes.

“You’re welcome.” Rey smiled. “I hate bullies.” She paused before continuing, “Is your father really an F1 driver?”

Ben nodded, “His name’s Han Solo.”

Rey froze. The few months she had spent with her previous foster family had offered her nothing except for one thing, her love for Formula 1. Now she was standing there, across from the son of her idol. 

“Han Solo? _The_ Han Solo? He’s my hero!”

A blush crept across Ben’s cheeks in a bright crimson color.

“I’m Rey, by the way.”

“Ben,” he said with a crooked smile that had managed to disarm her even then and came with the sweet promise of friendship for the many years to come. 

He was her first friend, her first and only best friend, and he also happened to be the first and the only one to have ever stolen her heart.

Rey loved every single thing about him. Even his often surly moods, that had everyone running for the hills. But not her. Never her. She never left him alone, because she knew just how scared he was that those he loved would leave him. _Like they always do_ , as he had once confessed to her. Rey would never leave him. It certainly helped that she knew just how to make him feel better. 

She would let him lay his head on her lap, as she combed his hair with her fingers and hummed a soft lullaby Maz had taught her when she was a child. He would often hum along with her, which brought smiles to both of their faces. 

The young woman loved his dark locks that were even softer than her own hair, and they complemented his pale skin that was dotted with beauty marks. She could get lost in the expanse of his pale skin and his dark eyes.

She also loved how massive his hands were - which obviously matched the rest of him, as far she was aware anyway - and how they dwarfed hers on the rare occasion she would let herself indulge and they would touch. 

Their paths had been destined to cross, she was sure of it. And yet in that moment, they seemed to be drifting away from each other, with her sulking on one side of the room, and him revelling in the attention Bazine was giving him on the other.

“Careful, Rey. You know what they say about looks that kill,” Rose approached her from behind, lacing her arms around her waist and plopping her chin over her shoulder. 

Her friend was surely on her tiptoes in order to reach Rey’s height.

“I don’t care.”

“You should! I’ve watched you pine and sulk over him for years and never once have you had the nerve to just tell him how you feel.”

“Because he doesn’t feel the same way,” Rey reminded her friend.

“Are you being serious right now? I can’t tell if you’ve had too much to drink or you’re just that dense. That boy has been in love with you since I’ve known him. And that was more than eleven years ago.”

Rey shook her head, as she stuffed a chocolate covered strawberry in her mouth. The chocolate was bitter and she only managed not to wince because of the sweetness of the fruit. She had picked the wrong one apparently. Instead of going for the chocolate-milk strawberries she had inadvertently picked dark. Well, she supposed it matched her mood.

“Rey, it’s almost midnight. Do you really want to see him kiss someone else?” 

The young woman shrugged, which caused Rose to step away, her attention reverting to the champagne glass she had set on the table before hugging Rey.

“There’s this trend on TikTok where teenagers who have a crush on their best friend kiss them and tell them how they feel. It’s actually quite sweet.”

“Are you saying I should film the moment I make a fool of myself and share it with the whole world? No, thank you. Besides it’s not going to happen,” Rey stated bitterly.

“The Rey I know would just grab the man by his collar and kiss him senseless,” her friend said through a mouthful of pizza.

She scoffed at the raven-haired girl’s comment.

“The Rey you know also wouldn’t want to risk her oldest friendship for the chance of a fling, and especially not when she knows the man she’s pining after doesn’t feel the same way.”

Rose just shook her head, “You really are stubborn. And refusing to see what’s right in front of you. And have I said stubborn?”

“What’s right in front of me is Ben drooling over a woman in a tight and revealing dress, getting ready to kiss her in an hour or so at the sound of fireworks.”

The music changed to what Rey knew to be Rose’s favourite and someone shouted her name across the room, so she would join them.

“Go on, they’re waiting for you,” Rey gestured to the dance floor, encouraging Rose to leave her.

Rose finished another drink before speaking again.

“Fine. Just a reminder, Rey. You’re also wearing a tight revealing dress. And you’ve got something that woman doesn’t,” at Rey’s silence, Rose continued her slightly slurred speech. The alcohol was finally getting to the petite woman, “You’ve got Ben’s heart.”

With those final words that caused Rey to choke on air, Rose abandoned her and disappeared into the crowd, leaving Rey to her brooding. 

  
  


✧✾✧

Ben had no idea how he ended up in that cramped and fading couch with Bazine of all people.

One minute he was walking through the door with Rey in his arms, and the next she was being pulled to the kitchen by Finn and Poe who required her expertise on something.

She had offered him a tight smile before letting herself get dragged away by the couple, promising him to go find him later. He nodded and entered the party, mingling and talking to people until he was cornered by Bazine.

He struck her as someone who knew what she wanted and would go for it. No fear. It was admirable, really, if he wasn’t so sure she would be leaving empty-handed if what she was after was him.

Not that he didn’t think she was attractive, or a nice person. Quite the opposite. But he supposed she had just set herself up for failure, because Benjamin Solo had a fundamental flaw. He would compare every single woman he met to Rey, and he always found that whatever their allure was, they could never match up to Rey’s striking beauty and shining personality.

Her bright smile was contagious and managed to lit up any room she walked into. He often envied the way she managed to bring light to every single thing she touched, while things usually withered and died in his presence. He couldn’t hate her for it. Hell, he couldn’t even envy her. He admired her and her strength and happiness despite everything she had gone through.

Her freckles were like stars he wished to map with his fingers - if only he could… And they only seemed to bring out her beautiful hazelnut eyes. Eyes that he could get lost in forever, especially when she laughed and they would crinkle in the corner in a way he knew she hated, but he absolutely adored.

He wondered what her lips would taste of, and how pliant they would be under his. He thought they would taste just like the way she smelled, of some sweet summer fruit such as strawberries or peaches. 

Her auburn hair shone like the sun, and it was always soft between his fingers, on the rare occasions he would let himself indulge. Or on the rare occasion he would experience a moment of bravery. For instance, when she was tucked against his side as they watched a film, and he would let his arm drape around her form, and touch some of the soft places he had dreamed and longed to touch for so long. 

She would always let him play with her hair, freeing it from the usual three buns or the half up-do she would do so she could keep her hair from her face. On the days where tension thrummed through her body, she would even go as far as letting him braid it for her in traditional alderaanian styles his mother had taught him so long ago.

Braiding her hair was his favourite thing in the world. The sounds she made in the back of her throat as he combed her hair and massaged her scalp were only short of sinful, and sometimes he had to bite down his tongue so he wouldn’t do something absolutely foolish.

One day, his fingers worked automatically as he focused on the screen, and it was to his great horror when he realised he had weaved her hair into a courting braid - yes, he was aware it was an old tradition, and he was also aware no one courted anymore, and yet he couldn’t shake away the feeling spreading through his body. It wasn’t the fact that he even remembered how to do it that disturbed him. What really scared him was knowing how much he liked seeing that specific braid on her, and how for a split second he very much wished it was real. 

He supposed his unconscious knew what he wanted better than him, because that braid revealed what he had known for so long and had always been so scared to admit. 

He was in love with her.

Ben had been in love with Rey from the moment she had defended him against that kid nearly seventeen years ago. Obviously, he hadn’t known what the feeling was back then. Something that spread across his chest like a blazing fire and threatened to consume him whole. But he could recognise it then. And even if she didn’t feel the same way about him, Ben was pretty sure he would never stop loving her.

He was so lost in his own thoughts he hadn’t even noticed Bazine had invaded his personal space until she put her hands on his chest. His instinct had been to remove himself from her touch, but decided to remain still and keep the fake smile on his face, too scared he’d be impolite. 

People always told him how his looks could curdle cheese and that he should smile more if he wanted people to like him. He had never been a very smiley person, but he tried to be for Rey, and for her friends. So they would like him. Bazine was Poe’s friend, and Poe was Rey’s friend. The last thing he wanted was to cause a scene and make everyone resent him or hate him. But none of that erased the fact that he wished the person drooling over him was Rey and not Bazine. He should try and find a way to escape her before midnight rolled in, and he had to kiss her.

With that in mind, his eyes would scan the room regularly to see where Rey was and he felt himself relax when he spotted her in the kitchen with Rose by her side. Seeing her warmed his heart, and made the smile on his lips turn genuine.

He really loved how the tight green dress she had chosen to wear hugged her curves in just the right way. He was sure he had made a fool of himself when she had emerged from her bedroom, her hair curled to frame her face, and with makeup to accentuate the allure of her eyes and the fullness of her lips. He had tried to will his tongue to move, but it remained stubbornly stuck to the roof of his mouth. He was certain his pale face had also gotten a shade darker, and that blush spread as far as the tips of its ears.

Bazine’s voice was a constant thrumming in the background, as his mind drifted to Rey, much like his eyes, which landed on her across the room. 

His heart was with the only woman who held it.

The clock on the sea green wall indicated it was half past eleven. He had thirty minutes to find a way to escape Bazine, and make his way to Rey.

He wasn’t fooling himself, he knew he wouldn’t get a kiss from her, but not getting a kiss from the woman he loved was better than share a kiss that wouldn’t mean a thing.

Ben was reaching the end of his infinite patience, getting ready to say a big _screw it_ and ask Bazine to step back, when Poe walked past and clapped in the back with a kilowatt smile that caused his resolve to crumble.

He hated parties and he couldn’t function properly at them. Not without Rey at his side anyway. She made it all much more bearable. 

Why did he leave Rey’s side to begin with?

  
  


✧✾✧

Why did she leave Ben’s side to begin with?

The clock across the room mocked her with every passing tick. She really had spent the last two hours or so in the kitchen, drinking and eating alone for the most part while everyone else seemed to be having a great time.

The clock ticked again. 

Not that she could actually hear it across the room and over the raucous of music and conversation, but she had spent enough nights sleeping on Poe’s couch to know exactly what it sounded like. 

Every tick marked the approach of her deadline, and she knew she shouldn’t care, but she also couldn’t shake Rose’s words out of her mind. Her friend knew she would get under her skin. 

Rey’s scowl only seemed to worsen as time passed, and she had lost count as to exactly how many drinks she had had. It didn’t matter. Maybe she should drink more. She should drink until she was sure that she wouldn’t be able to remember this party. She should drink until the image of Bazine pressing against Ben with her bold red lipstick, which was painfully ingrained in her brain, disappeared and got lost in the haze of her drunkenness. 

Deep down she felt bad. She didn’t have anything against Bazine, In fact, she quite liked her. She just hated that she was the one Ben was lavishing with attention.

She brought her glass to her lips and tipped it back, revealing in the burn of the alcohol at the back of her throat, which managed to somewhat numb her pain.

Rey looked at the white clock once more, that stood stark against the garish green of the wall. She wished she had powers that could pause the unstoppable and relentless ticking of the hands. Alas, she could not. Time would not stop for her. The New Year was looming just around the corner and it was ready to throw her under the bus, without her even managing to get a taste of the happiness it promised so many.

She sighed and set the glass down, leaning over the counter to reach for another strawberry. That time she got the right one, and let the sweetness coat her tongue. 

Just as she was about to reach for the last chocolate-milk strawberry, Finn swooped in and grabbed it before she could. He put it in his mouth with a grin on his lips that indicated just how pleased he was by his victory.

“This is what’s going to happen if you don’t do something about it.”

Her mood darkened even more. First Rose, now Finn?

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she stated nonchalantly as she reached for a white chocolate strawberry instead. 

“The fact that you’re denying it, proves you know exactly what I’m talking about.” Finn walked around the kitchen counter so he could lay a hand on her shoulder and look her straight in the eye, “C’mon, peanut. We’re all tired of watching you both dance around each other.”

Rey allowed herself to steal a glance at the man in question. He looked handsome in the ember light of the apartment, especially when he smiled like he was, all dimples and unabashed happiness. She could hear the deep timber of his laugh across the room, causing her heart to somersault in her chest.

She turned away from the scene and sighed before asking, “Did Rose put you up to this?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” it was his turn to say.

His crooked smile told her enough, and she couldn’t help but chuckle with him. Rose liked to get involved. It was just part of who she was and she couldn’t help it.

“What if I mess it up?” She finally voiced the question that had been haunting her for so long.

“You’re not going to mess it up.”

“You don’t know that,” she wrung her hands nervously, a habit that only Ben managed to placate with his deep soothing voice and his big fingers that he would interlace with hers so she would have something else to focus on.

Suddenly people started chanting. 

20… 19…

“I need to go find Poe.” Finn disappeared before Rey could say anything else.

18… 17… 16…

The count kept going, and she didn’t have it in herself to join in.

15… 14…

Her eyes moved to Ben once again and then to Bazine, who was batting her fake eyelashes at him and slowly entering his personal space.

13… 12… 11…

Rey wasn’t sure if it was the burning jealousy inside of her, or the one too many drinks that she had consumed that finally made her move. But once she started walking towards him, she couldn’t stop. 

10…

Another step.

9…

People had already paired up for their midnight kiss, and she tried to push through them as fast as she could. 

8…

She could vaguely hear someone shouting behind her to be more careful.

7…

Rey didn’t apologise. She didn’t have time to worry about such trivial things.

6…

She kept plowing forwards. She was so, so close.

5…

Bazine puckered her lips and closed her eyes, and Rey ignored the motion, focusing instead on reaching Ben.

4…

Almost there.

3…

Ben retreated away from Bazine with an apologetic expression on his face. That was it - her opportunity.

2…

Ben saw Rey approach him out of the corner of his eye, and smiled down at her.

She finally reached him, grabbed him by the collar of his neatly pressed white shirt and pulled him down to her. 

1…

Their lips met in a forceful crash. It was definitely not gentle. It was needy, and sloppy, and it burned. It burned with longing and desire.

Rey lost count of how long they stood there, their lips touching but not moving.

She waited for him to reciprocate her kiss, but he never did. She waited for his hands to weave around her form and pull her to him, but they never did. She waited for him to react in any way. To pull her away, or even scream at her! Anything. She would take anything. That’s how desperate she was to know his feelings. But instead he did nothing.

“Happy New Year!” Everyone around them cheered.

Rey pulled away, and removed her hands from him so fast people would have thought she had burned herself. 

They wouldn’t be completely wrong. 

She had burned and she had crashed if the expression on his face was anything to judge from.

Rey absent-mindedly registered that Bazine was kissing someone else, so at least she hadn’t stolen her midnight kiss from her. But in the face of everything, that was only a small consolation.

Because everything was wrong. So, so terribly wrong.

  
  


✧✾✧

In his defence, Ben was still trying to process what happened. One minute he had been about to kiss Bazine, and the next he felt strong hands grab hold of his collar and Rey’s soft lips pressing into his.

And as he was faced with the thing that he had desired most for the last seventeen years, he froze. He tried to will his mind to work, tried to will his body and his hands to move, to grab hold of her and kiss her like he meant it. But to no avail. 

His brain seemed to have short-circuited. 

So he was doomed to stay there, in that moment, watching it unfold, painfully aware that he should do something - anything - but unable to do so.

At least his mind managed to register two things. One, yes, her lips tasted just as he thought they would - sweet as strawberries or peaches with a faint hint of chocolate; and two, they were softer than he thought possible.

There was surprise written all over his features when Rey finally pulled away. His mind was still trying to catch up, scrambling to put some kind of speech together - he wasn’t as hopeful as to think it would be eloquent in any way. So he aimed for coherent, at least. But he didn’t even manage that.

He realised he had done something terribly wrong when Rey’s eyes glistened with unshed tears and her bottom lip trembling slightly, before she removed her hands from him as fast as she could and darted out of the door.

“Go after her!” He hazily heard someone in the crowd shout.

His brain seemed to have at last caught up with him, providing him with a pitiful and plainly obvious, _Yes,_ y _ou should go after her._

Ben dashed after her in a frenzy, practically knocking over the little glass coffee table in the middle of the room. He didn’t even acknowledge the pain that shot up his shin at the collision. He was sure he was going to have a bruise the next day. A problem for future Ben, he supposed. In that moment all he wanted was Rey.

He frantically rushed after her, opening the door with so much force it bounced back hitting the wall which caused the cabinets in the kitchen to rattle. And they rattled a second time when he closed the door just as forcefully.

He was vaguely aware of Poe cursing him and shouting something about Ben paying his deposit, but his attention was on Rey. Rey, who was about to leave. Rey, who was about to run.

“Wait!” He shouted.

Rey halted and slowly turned to face him, the tears he had seen pricking the corner of her eyes finally rolling down her cheeks.

“What?” She asked defensively, crossing her arms in front of her in an attempt to shut him out.

“Rey, please. I-I- ”

He wasn’t helping his cause, he knew. If only the words would leave his mouth like he had practiced in front of the mirror so many times.

“What, Ben? Couldn’t you just have left it as it was? You had to chase me out here and rub salt in the wound?”

“You caught me off-guard,” he winced the moment it registered in his brain that his words sounded like a rejection.

Rey released a dry-chuckle that made his blood freeze in his veins. 

Boy, he really wasn’t good with words.

“Rey…”, he pleaded as he slowly approached her, trying not to spook her, “You know I’m terrible with words and even more so at expressing my feelings.”

She sniffled and wiped her nose with the back of her hand while he ran his hands through his hair, a habit he couldn’t shake no matter how much he tried. Only Rey could somehow settle him enough so he wouldn’t give in to it. But at that moment, he knew she wouldn’t. He had to be the one to settle her. To reassure her and convince her of the truthfulness of his feelings for her.

“Hear me out, please,” he finally managed to reach her, and she let him cradle her hands in both of his, albeit begrudgingly.

She shook her head and started speaking before he could, “I have loved you for so long, and I was stupid enough to think that whatever we had was enough. That our friendship would always be enough. And then I saw her with you, and I realised I couldn’t bear that. I can’t bear to see you with someone else. And I know it's selfish of me, but I’m in love with you and I want you to find your happiness with me. Not anyone else,” her voice broke at the end, and the sob that wracked through her body was enough to open a gash in his heart, but his face softened at her confession and he couldn’t help the love-sick smile that took over.

Ben had to make things right. He would make things right. He was having trouble catching up to reality, but he could not let himself ruin the moment a second time. There was too much at stake.

He rubbed her hands gently with the pads of his thumbs in an attempt to reassure her and soothe his own nerves.

“Rey, it’s you. It’s always been you. Bazine was talking to me, and the whole time I kept thinking about you, wishing I was spending the last moment of the last year and the first moment of the new one with you. I wanted you to be my midnight kiss, you just caught me by surprise. It’s not everyday that you have the woman of your dreams grabbing you by the collar of your shirt and kissing you silly.” 

Her mouth parted in shock as the truth of his words finally sank in. 

He registered that moment in his brain, so he could forever remember it. The way her eyes shone even in the dim-lit corridor and how her lips were still slightly pink from their haste kiss and how he was so utterly in love he almost asked her if he could braid a courting braid into her hair again. Luckily, he didn’t. Instead, he did the next best thing. 

He cradled her soft cheek in his hand, and wonder of wonders she leaned into his touch.

His heart might have burst in his chest. It might’ve just done so, and he simply hadn’t even felt it. Not with the way his blood coursed through his veins at the prospect of finally having the only woman he's ever loved.

“Can I kiss you? Properly this time?”

She grabbed him by the collar of his shirt a second time that night, and this time he knew what to expect. He leaned into it eagerly, ready to taste the strawberries and chocolate thoroughly.

The hand that was already resting on her cheek moved in a way that allowed his fingers to tangle in her hair, and she hummed into his mouth at the gesture. He swallowed it hungrily, ready to take anything she was willing to give him. 

His other one travelled to the small of her back, allowing him the advantage to pull her flush against his body. And oh! Hers folded into his perfectly, as if they had been made for each other. 

He tilted her chin with the aid of his thumb to deepen the kiss, and she responded by weaving her hand into his thick dark hair, causing him to release a grumble of pleasure from within his chest.

He was quite possibly addicted to the way she keened and moaned at his touch, and he just couldn’t get enough of her. He couldn’t get enough of the sounds she made when he nibbled her bottom lip, or of the way her lips dipped under the onslaught of his and his tongue, with which he intended to explore every inch of her mouth and sun-kissed skin.

How she ended up with her back pressed against the wall while he thoroughly devoured her, Ben wasn’t sure, but he wasn’t complaining either. And he certainly wasn’t complaining when Rey laced her arms around his neck and used the advantage to pull herself up, wrapping her legs around his middle so their centres aligned. He pressed her harder into the wall, afraid his legs might give out under him. 

Ben couldn’t help the groan that escaped him when she rolled her hips against his, which elicited a satisfied giggle from the woman in his arms.

She was going to be the death of him. And what a deliciously sinful way to go.

He was the one to relent first, parting their lips and touching his forehead to hers so he could catch his breath. Her exhales ghosted against his face and tickled his skin, reminding him that it was all real.

He smiled at her. He smiled widely, knowing the dimples he hated so much would show, but Rey traced them with the tips of her thumbs as if they were the most precious thing in the world and if that’s how she saw them, then maybe he could learn to love them too.

The smile on her face was worth it all, crinkling her eyes in just the way he loved and he kissed those crinkles with as much love as he could muster, still caught up in their blissfully happy moment.

“Are you ever coming back in or what?”

“Are you both done out there? I don’t think the neighbours will appreciate finding a thong in the common hall.”

The voices were muffled by the door and the walls but they still carried through, breaking the somewhat peaceful and quiet moment Rey and Ben had managed to carve for themselves. 

The two of them released exasperated matching sighs. 

The voices had clearly been Finn and Poe’s.

“What makes you think I’m even wearing any underwear?” Rey shouted at them in retaliation, causing Ben to simultaneously laugh and choke at the insinuation, the tips of his ears turning a bright red.

Rey giggled into his neck as she held onto him. He chuckled with her, shaking his head at his incorrigible Rey. 

_His…_

“What do you say, sweetheart? Ready to go back in?”

“I have a better idea”, she murmured against his ear in what was positively the most sensual tone of her voice.

“And what would that be?” He enquired as he tried to swallow away the dryness in his throat.

She batted her eyelashes at him while drawing idle circles on his chest. Her touch through the thick material of his shirt was enough to drive him mad and set him ablaze.

“Let’s go to yours.”

Ben planted a hasty kiss on her lips, before setting her down on the floor, and grabbing her hand.

That seemed to be answer enough for her, because she started running down the stairs, pulling him along. She didn’t have to, though. He would follow her anywhere. 

They snickered and snorted as they dashed madly towards the exit, leaving Poe’s apartment behind, along with the old year.

Ben chased her into the night. He chased her and her strawberry and chocolate flavoured kisses, which he hoped he would be able to taste over and over again.

Here’s to a new year.


End file.
